Audio and video equipment designers put a lot of effort into making their various products pleasing to the eye. But there's a certain segment of the population - OK, usually the women - who simply don't find rows of buttons and lights very attractive. Oddly enough, they don't want a corner of their living room to resemble a jet pilot's control panel. One traditional solution is to hide the offending components - audio receivers, VCRs, tape decks, CD players and so on - inside cabinetry.

A new crop of cordless phones is blooming this spring, ripe for carrying and leaving outside, as you get into gardening chores, tinkering in the garage or just lolling around in the sun. Like this gadgeteer, you may have had a bad experience with cordless phones in the past. Many suffered from low-fi reception, false ringing and interference noise from lights, motors and your neighbor's cordless phone. But the latest models are much improved, and bear close inspection if you appreciate the freedom of movement that a cordless phone promises.

Q: I'm very happy with the Recoton wireless extension speakers you recommended. But now I wish I had a way to manipulate the various components of my living-room stereo - CD, tape and radio - from the bedroom location where I put those speakers. Any ideas? A: The same technology that makes possible breakthrough products like the Recoton W-440 Wireless Speakers (about $200 a pair) has also allowed for a new breed of wireless remote-control extender - typified by the RCA Remote Control Signal Sender ($59.

For some of us, every autumn weekend is a time of cruel choices. So many chores to do around the house, yet so many monumental sporting events to watch on TV. How long will your conscience (or spouse) let you hide in your media room while leaves clog the gutters? You could clap on a portable radio while you do the honorable thing and clean out the basement, but radio restricts you to fewer game choices. Maybe if you cranked up the TV set or propped a speaker in the window. This year there's another choice, one that will let you roam from attic to basement to back yard without missing a play.

Home engineers can save energy, sanity and their vocal cords with the newest addition to GE's line of undercabinet kitchen appliances. Without missing a beat, the GE Spacemaker intercom system (Model 7-4295) lets you announce "supper's ready" to the kids in the playroom, or your spouse in the home office or garage, while you're stirring a boiling pot, chopping vegetables or rinsing dishes. The core system ($69.95) includes an undercabinet mountable base unit with a small remote station, and a built-in AM/FM radio and clock.

Want to save a marriage? Improve relations with your party-wall neighbors? Keep peace with the kids? Lessen the drudgery of household chores and exercise? Save yourself a pile of money? Few electronics products hold the promise of Recoton's Room Service wireless sound distributing equipment. Best represented with its W200 wireless stereo headphone system ($130), the gear lets you listen to a stereo or TV audio track anywhere in your home - with no wires attached and no sonic interruptus.

THE GIZMO: Cutting communications bills with the Ooma Telo and the C.Crane Super USB Wi-Fi Antenna. SLASH 'N' BURN: Are phone and Internet bills getting you down? Today we're looking at two great gadgets that can cut your monthly costs. How does "free" or "nearly free" sound? THE BEST HOME PHONE ALTERNATIVE: Lots of folks use the Internet to make calls without realizing it, having signed up for phone service from a cable/Internet service provider such as Comcast or Verizon FiOS.

International Mobile Machines Inc., a Philadelphia firm that makes a patented radio-telephone system for use in rural areas, yesterday said that BellSouth Corp. had agreed to buy as many as 100 of its systems, worth about $27 million, through 1990. It is the first major contract for IMM and its Ultraphone system, which IMM says will dramatically reduce the cost of providing basic telephone service to rural areas. With the Ultraphone system, telephone calls are transmitted by radio to a base station, then relayed to a telephone company switching office where they join the rest of the local and national network.

Your mate rolls over and goes to sleep at 11:30 p.m. Night-owl you likes to cozy up with Carson and Letterman. How can you keep peace in the bedroom, and still maintain your respective body clocks on personal time? Sony's two-piece MDR-IF5K cordless stereo headphone system is the answer to your nighttime prayers. Comprised of an AC-powered infrared transmitter and a pair of very comfortable, 4-ounce headphones, this $200 (list) package lets you enjoy high fidelity stereo sound without disturbing your roommate, and without tangling up the bedclothes with wires.

Dave Wolfe slid down the snow-slicked ramp outside Kelly Hall, held a walkie-talkie to his ear and headed into the darkness along the northern perimeter of the Drexel University campus in West Philadelphia. A few minutes later, Wolfe, 20, a junior electrical engineering major, and his partner, Stephen Adels, a Drexel sophomore, sloshed through the snow on a neighborhood patrol that took them past several university facilities, fraternity houses and private apartment buildings catering to students.

THE GIZMO: Cutting communications bills with the Ooma Telo and the C.Crane Super USB Wi-Fi Antenna. SLASH 'N' BURN: Are phone and Internet bills getting you down? Today we're looking at two great gadgets that can cut your monthly costs. How does "free" or "nearly free" sound? THE BEST HOME PHONE ALTERNATIVE: Lots of folks use the Internet to make calls without realizing it, having signed up for phone service from a cable/Internet service provider such as Comcast or Verizon FiOS.

Shares of Entercom Communications Corp., the Bala Cynwyd-based radio station chain, soared yesterday, a day after the family-owned company raised $306 million in an initial public offering. Chairman Joseph M. Field, a onetime federal prosecutor who founded Entercom in 1968 to buy fledgling FM stations, joined his son, Entercom president David J. Field, in ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. The stock jumped 37 percent to close at $30.75, up from its initial sale price of $22.50, which was above the $18 to $21 range that the company had planned.

THE GRASS IS GREENER FOR BLUE UNIFORMS IN SUBURBS I commend City Councilman James Kenney for his ideas to raise the standards of the Philadelphia police force and attract better candidates, but it will take more than raising standards and additional positions to attract and retain experienced officers. One municipality within a short drive of Philadelphia offers this to police officers: a starting salary 10 percent higher, increases in base starting pay totaling 30 percent after four years of service, a chance in the first four years to gain experience in almost all units and eligibility for promotion going into the fifth year.

Is there a dad or new grad in your life? Nothing says lovin' like a high- tech gizmo to make their days more efficient or pleasurable. Consider these possibilities. POWER UP: What do you get the guy who has everything electronic? A spike- protection power strip, so he can plug in all his toys and not fear frying them if lighting strikes. A six-outlet power strip with a modicum of protection can be found for $10, but be prepared to spend $20-$50 for a serious version. GLOWING SUCCESS: You don't have to be a runner or diver to appreciate Timex Ironman watches ($38-$50)

Q: I'm very happy with the Recoton wireless extension speakers you recommended. But now I wish I had a way to manipulate the various components of my living-room stereo - CD, tape and radio - from the bedroom location where I put those speakers. Any ideas? A: The same technology that makes possible breakthrough products like the Recoton W-440 Wireless Speakers (about $200 a pair) has also allowed for a new breed of wireless remote-control extender - typified by the RCA Remote Control Signal Sender ($59.

Audio and video equipment designers put a lot of effort into making their various products pleasing to the eye. But there's a certain segment of the population - OK, usually the women - who simply don't find rows of buttons and lights very attractive. Oddly enough, they don't want a corner of their living room to resemble a jet pilot's control panel. One traditional solution is to hide the offending components - audio receivers, VCRs, tape decks, CD players and so on - inside cabinetry.

Want to save a marriage? Improve relations with your party-wall neighbors? Keep peace with the kids? Lessen the drudgery of household chores and exercise? Save yourself a pile of money? Few electronics products hold the promise of Recoton's Room Service wireless sound distributing equipment. Best represented with its W200 wireless stereo headphone system ($130), the gear lets you listen to a stereo or TV audio track anywhere in your home - with no wires attached and no sonic interruptus.

For Betty Loper, a councilwoman in West Chester, a neighborhood Town Watch is a way for her and concerned residents to take back their neighborhood in the east end of the borough from drug dealers and users. For West Chester Police Sgt. James Bell, the Town Watch is a way for residents to get involved in their community, and it offers extra sets of eyes and ears for the police. "When residents see something suspicious, they call the police," he said. "These citizens groups aren't vigilantes.

Home engineers can save energy, sanity and their vocal cords with the newest addition to GE's line of undercabinet kitchen appliances. Without missing a beat, the GE Spacemaker intercom system (Model 7-4295) lets you announce "supper's ready" to the kids in the playroom, or your spouse in the home office or garage, while you're stirring a boiling pot, chopping vegetables or rinsing dishes. The core system ($69.95) includes an undercabinet mountable base unit with a small remote station, and a built-in AM/FM radio and clock.

A new crop of cordless phones is blooming this spring, ripe for carrying and leaving outside, as you get into gardening chores, tinkering in the garage or just lolling around in the sun. Like this gadgeteer, you may have had a bad experience with cordless phones in the past. Many suffered from low-fi reception, false ringing and interference noise from lights, motors and your neighbor's cordless phone. But the latest models are much improved, and bear close inspection if you appreciate the freedom of movement that a cordless phone promises.